


My Skin is Made of Static, So Touch Me Gently

by Jennsepticeye



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance (Voltron) is a Good Friend, M/M, Panic Attacks, Shiro is a Good Bro, Touch-Starved Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:28:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14109396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jennsepticeye/pseuds/Jennsepticeye
Summary: “Can you lift your head, Samurai? I have cocoa.” Lance’s voice was softer than Keith had ever heard. So he took a couple shaky breaths before sitting up. He kept his legs pressed to his chest but his arms loosened around his shins. He took the mug from Lance, the alien ceramic keeping the outside room temperature. His hands were shaking so he braced them on his knees.“Thanks, Lance.” Keith said after a time, voice quiet and choked.“No problemo, hermoso. Whatever you need.”“Can you just… keep talking?” He asked“Of course.” And so he did, describing Valdero beach and his loud family. He talked about hilarious flight simulation failures and talked shit about Iverson. He talked until Keith’s mug was empty and he had fallen asleep, slumped against the wall.





	My Skin is Made of Static, So Touch Me Gently

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my first works, so feedback is greatly appreciated.  
> Also, I thought this was gonna be like 10.000 words, but I guess not.
> 
> Leave kudos and comments please. 
> 
> Danke!
> 
> Edit: I hopefully fixed the spacing since I noticed it was kind of cramped.

Keith Kogane was a man of mystery an enigma with strange quirks and habits, things that were just accepted because it was Keith. Keith slept with his clothes and shoes on, Keith trains during all his free time, Keith is lactose intolerant. Keith doesn’t like to be touched. The last one complicated things, especially when there’s only seven people on a spaceship hurtling through the stars. Allura, Coran and Pidge weren’t overly affectionate, mostly hands off for their own reasons and preferences. Shiro was like his brother, he knew where Keith’s boundaries were. Hunk and Lance however…

Both had grown up in big families. Families who were always hugging and play fighting and ruffling hair. Hunk could see, take hints and read Keith’s face. He took to copying Shiro mostly, strangely enough though, Keith was alright with Hunk’s warm hugs and slaps on the back. Maybe because he always knew they were coming. Whatever the reason, Lance was the only exception. The only one who couldn’t see or just straight up ignored the unspoken rule. He was always swinging his gangly arms around, wrapped around shoulders, high fives, gratuitous slaps on the back. He couldn’t seem to see the way Keith tensed up when he pulled the red paladin into a post-battle hug, or the way he stiffly excused himself from the inevitable pile of bodies created on movie nights. Keith’s skin was constantly bristling, aching. His door slid closed and he was curled up on his bed, breathing harshly as his skin burned with touch and oversensitivity. He wore the fingerless gloves Lance found so dumb because his hands were constantly searing with ghosts of touch, but within the confines of his room it was all he could do to rip them off in an attempt to quell the constant pain.

Of course all ignorance is thwarted eventually. Lance, high off of residual adrenaline from battle and endorphins from victory, swept him into a bear hug, spinning in a circle. It took Keith by surprise, he didn’t have time to brace himself, strap on his poker face. He cried out in pain, catching everyone’s attention and plunging the room into silence.

“Don’t touch me!” He snapped, ripping himself away from Lance quickly and stumbled back a few steps. He didn’t wait for anyone to ask questions before he turned on his heel and sprinted away.

~*~

Lance watched Keith run off, shocked and confused and worried. He wasn’t dumb, He knew Keith wasn’t big on physical contact, but he hadn’t expected such a reaction. He didn’t expected Keith to look like he was in agony. There was a warm hand on his shoulder and Shiro was pushing Lance away from the hangar and into another room.

“Come here, Lance.” He said it in the way a parent does right before they tell you that your grandma just died but it was strangely comforting. “You probably want an explanation.”

Lance nodded, usually bottomless well of words empty.

“Keith… he didn’t have a great childhood. I won’t go into details but he didn’t have a stable family growing up. He was in foster care from two years to when he enrolled in the Garrison.”

Lance had suspected something of the sort, but actually hearing it was something else. It was all he could do to keep a straight face and nod gravely.

“Because he was in foster care, he didn’t get a lot of physical affection growing up. From what I understand he’s what’s called touch-starved. It’s why he’s closed off, it’s why he gets angry so easily.”

Lance was confused “That doesn’t explain why he sounded like I stabbed him in the hangar earlier.”

Shiro ran his human hand over his face, exhausted. “Prolonged lack of contact has made him… sensitive, in a way. If he’s touched too suddenly or too much, it can be… overwhelming. I’m sorry, I’m not very good at explaining this. He’s only explained it to me once.”

“No, I think I understand now. Thank you Shiro.” Lance nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

~*~

Lance sat on the new information for a few castle days. His and Keith’s banter went back to normal, though noticeably less physical than before. Lance was someone who always wanted to help, to make things better for others, so he refused to just sit on this. As much as the revelation worried him, he cared about Keith and whether or not he was okay. He didn’t want Keith to have to deal with this alone anymore. That’s how he found himself pacing back and forth in front of Keith’s door sometime in the afternoon, arguing with himself on whether he should knock or not. Just as he was deciding against it and turning away, the door hissed open.

“Lance?” Keith asked. He wasn’t wearing his trademark red jacket and his hair was tied up from his neck. Clearly on his way to the training deck.

“Hey Keith.” He tried to sound nonchalant but Keith clearly wasn’t convinced.

“What do you want?” He crossed his arms over his chest, expression guarded.

“I wanted to talk to you…about last week.” When Keith’s only response was to look away, Lance continued. “Shiro explained as best he could but I figured I should ask you, about you.”

“Come in.” Keith stood aside and Lance walked in, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. “What did Shiro tell you?”

“That you were in foster care as a kid. That you’re touch-starved and that made your skin over sensitive”

“Yeah.” Keith was standing right in front of him but looking at his toes.

“Look I just came here to one, apologize. Two, make sure you’re alright, and three, I wanted to ask what your boundaries were.”

“I’m fine.” Keith grumbled, turning to leave the room.

“Wait, Keith!” He was already out the door, headed towards the training deck. Lance chased after.

Keith stopped, turning halfway around. “Just… ask before you touch me.” Lance thought he might have imagined the small smile tugging at the corners of Keith’s mouth.

~*~

Lance had learned a lot, growing up with a big family. Most notably, he learned how to help someone without letting others know they needed help, and without making them feel helpless. It was a skill that was definitely helpful when it came to helping Keith.

The adrenaline from battle never wore off right away, making the victory more exciting as they steered the lions into the hangar. There was loud whooping on the coms from everyone before they stumbled out of their lions. Hunk wrapped Lance up in his arms almost immediately, a bone crushing and the armor made it uncomfortable but it still made him smile. Lance pulled himself away from Hunk to call out to the Red Paladin.

“Keith!” he yelled, already jogging up to the boy in question. Keith turned around, pulling off his helmet. His black hair was wild and he was grinning widely. He looked gorgeous.

“High-five?” It was phrased carefully as a question, giving Keith the opportunity to scoff and leave him hanging if he needed to.

“Good job out there, Sharpshooter.” Keith replied, then to Lance’s surprise, gave the high-five you’d expect from a middle school student. Hard and fast like a whip, leaving Lance’s hand stinging.

“You too, Samurai.” He said, turning and heading towards the lockers. Keith shot him an impossibly brighter smile and Lance felt like he’d been tazed. Warm electricity buzzing under his skin

Later, in the shower, he nearly fell over when the realization hit him like a truck. _He had a crush on Keith._

~*~

After every victory, big or small, they had made it a tradition to have Paladin Movie Night™. Allura mentioned something about boosting morale but whatever the reason, it was fun. Pidge had a few terabytes of movies downloaded on her computer so they had a lot of choices. Hunk had chosen The Princess Bride for tonight, something about liking happy endings. They had all migrated to their usual places in short order. Pidge and Shiro on the floor, Hunk and Lance next to each other, and Keith all the way on the other end of the bench. Lance didn’t press him on it.

It was the middle of Andre the Giant’s big scene of getting his head bashed in when Keith got up and left without a word. His hands were curled in the fabric of his cropped jacket and his shoulders were hunched. Normally, Lance wouldn’t worry, but for once he had an actual idea to what was happening. So, after a few minutes, he excused himself quietly, following after.

“Keith? Are you alright?” Lance asked, knocking softly on Keith’s closed door.

There was no response so he let himself in, having learned everyone’s door codes months ago. Keith’s room was immaculate as always, probably because he spent all his time on the training deck instead of his room. The only thing out of place was Keith himself, curled into a tiny ball in the corner of the bed.

“Keith, buddy, are you okay?” Lance asked, sitting on the opposite edge of the bed.

Keith shook his head, not uncurling from the corner.

“Can I touch you?”

Keith shook his head again.

“Okay, I have an idea. Will you be alright if I leave for a couple minutes?”

He shrugged

“Uh... Alright, just take some deep breaths and I’ll be right back.”

Keith nodded so Lance left, walking quickly through the empty halls. Everyone else was still watching the movie so no one questioned his armfuls of blankets and mugs of cocoa or his presence at his “rival’s” door. Inside, Keith was exactly as he’d left him.

“Keith, can I put this blanket on you?”

He shrugged.

“Okay. I’m going to put it on, and if you decide you don’t want it just shrug again.”

Keith nodded so Lance draped the soft blanket over his shoulders, pleased to find that not only did Keith not shrug, he seemed to relax slightly.

“Can you lift your head, Samurai? I have cocoa.” Lance’s voice was softer than Keith had ever heard. So he took a couple shaky breaths before sitting up. He kept his legs pressed to his chest but his arms loosened around his shins. He took the mug from Lance, the alien ceramic keeping the outside room temperature. His hands were shaking so he braced them on his knees.

“Thanks, Lance.” Keith said after a time, voice quiet and choked.

“No problemo, hermoso. Whatever you need.”

“Can you just… keep talking?” He asked

“Of course.” And so he did, describing Valdero beach and his loud family. He talked about hilarious flight simulation failures and talked shit about Iverson. He talked until Keith’s mug was empty and he had fallen asleep, slumped against the wall. Lance was too tired to move and soon found himself asleep against the opposite wall.

~*~

“Why are you helping me?” Keith was wrapped in a blanket, half empty mug in his hands. It was the third time he’d had a panic attack in the last month. Lance had been there for each one, wrapping him in a blanket and putting a warm drink in his hands.

“What?” Lance asked, surprised.

“Why are you pretending to care? You hate me.”

“Wait, Keith, you think I still hate you?”

“Well what else would I think?” Keith scoffed.

“Fuck man, I didn’t mean for it to seem that way. I was going more for friendly banter than actual antagonism.” Lance said “And I’m helping you because we’re friends and I care about you.”

“Wait, we’re friends?”

He rolled his eyes. “Well I’d be kind of concerned for the state of the universe if we weren’t friends. We’ve lived together for more than a year now.”

“Oh…” Was all Keith said.

“Don’t think about it too hard, Samurai. It doesn’t change much.” Lance stated “I’m still going to insult your mullet and you’re still going to call me a goof-ball. Some things never change.”

They both chuckled before lapsing into silence. A few minutes later the light dimmed, letting everyone know it was some semblance of night time. Lance got up to leave, confident that Keith would be alright for the rest of the night, only to be stopped by a warm hand wrapping around his own. Keith was holding his hand. They both knew this was a big step but chose not to say anything about it.

“Thank you, Lance.” He said, not making eye contact.

“Anytime.” Lance squeezed his hand gently before letting go.

~*~

Neither of them were sure when it happened but suddenly it was a regular thing for Keith to lace his fingers with Lance’s. It was completely normal, during strategy meetings, for Keith to reach over and hook their pinkies together. Lance knew this was incredible progress, so did Keith, but they didn’t mention it. Too afraid that bringing it up would bring all of it crashing down, back to start. So they just let it happen. Even with the tones of uncertainty, the new arrangement was nice. It was fun. But there was always a place for more progress.

“Keith, it’s your turn to choose. What are we watching?” Pidge asked.

“Hacker’s pick.” Keith nearly always let Pidge choose. They had impeccable taste in movies, Keith, however, less so.

They were back in their usual spots, though lately, Keith had moved away from the edge of the couch, towards Lance. Not that he had noticed or anything. Same way he hadn’t noticed Keith’s feet brushing his shins at dinner or how cute he looked with his hair tied up. But everything stopped when Keith was right next to Lance, shoulders nearly touching, occasionally reaching over into the substitute popcorn. Fortunately or unfortunately, Pidge hadn’t put on an action movie tonight so exhaustion caught up with all of them pretty quickly. Keith was the first to go, Lance nearly jumping out of his skin when Keith’s head landed on his shoulder. The Red Paladin didn’t seem to notice, already asleep, so Lance relaxed. So much for slow progress, this was a huge step. Despite the excitement however, Lance soon found himself following Keith’s example, resting his head against the top of Keith’s. Slowly he dozed off, smiling to himself.

~*~

When Lance woke up the next ‘morning’ he was still on the sofa and Keith was still pressed next to him. Someone had laid a blanket over them at some point and Keith had curled his hands into Lance’s jacket. It was almost as if he was afraid Lance would slip away and leave in the night. His heart fluttered at the prospect but he shoved it down. Keith was still asleep so Lance stayed still, loosing himself in the feeling of Keith’s soft hair on his cheek and the warmth he was giving off. Unfortunately, Keith couldn’t sleep forever, inhaling in a half-yawn as he stretched his legs. He let go of Lance’s jacket.

“Morning, sleeping-mullet.” Lance chirped.

“That doesn’t even make sense.” Keith replied, not moving away.

“You doing alright, hermoso?” he asked

“I mean, my neck is killing me, but yeah.” He sighed, shoulders relaxing.

“Well, as much as I would love to stay here and cuddle your boney ass, we should get to breakfast before they send a search party.” Lance suggested, not making any move to get up. Keith took the initiative, throwing the blanket off and standing. Lance wrapped the rest of the rest of the blanket round his shoulders.

“Little did the Red Paladin know, it was all a clever ruse for the sharpshooter to obtain the whole blanket!” Lance narrated dramatically, flopping over to lay down on the sofa. Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s theatrics but nevertheless chuckled. Before he could blink, Keith had lunged forward, tugging the blanket from Lance and making him tumble onto the floor with a yelp.

“That’s cold, Samurai. I’m cold. It’s freezing in here.” He whined from the floor.

“Yeah, well I guess even the desert couldn’t warm my cold dead heart.” He deadpanned

Lance stood up, swaying on his feet with sleep. “You are the worst, Kogane. The worst.”

“You wish.” Then he left, leaving Lance to scramble after him to the dining room.

Hugs became a semi-common occurrence after that. Lance could be seen sweeping Keith off his feet after a particularly successful battle or before bed. Sometimes Keith would show up at his door and simply ask for a hug. Lance was happy to oblige, even if that meant his crush on the other paladin grew crushing, pun absolutely intended. More often than not, movie nights ended with them sidled up next to each other on the couch. Like before, they didn’t say anything, too afraid to ruin it.

~*~

Another day, another victory. The team was getting a lot stronger, a lot closer, and as a result, Voltron was too. Keith stumbled out of Red into the hangar with a smile on his face. Lance’s heart leapt in his chest at the sight. Before he could say anything, Keith had run over and slung his arms around his neck. Lance got ahold of himself and wrapped his arms around Keith’s waist. Shiro was looking over at them, fond smile on his face. He made eye contact and Lance knew exactly what that look meant.

_Thank you._

“Nice work out there, Sharpshooter.” Keith said, and then he was gone, leaving Lance blush in the hangar. He chose to ignore Hunk’s cooing and Pidge’s snicker.

That’s what their relationship had developed into. Both of them wanting more but being too afraid to take it. Too afraid that the other wasn’t ready, that the other didn’t want more. It had taken months to get this far, this comfortable, and Lance didn’t want to sacrifice Keith’s progress just because he had a crush.

~*~

The two weeks following “The Hug™,” as Lance had taken to calling it, were the longest of their time in space. Just being around Keith made time move at a snail’s pace, because he was right there and Lance couldn’t tell him. So he resolved to drown in self-pity and Altean face masks.

Then Keith was at his door.

“We need to talk.” He said, as soon as Lance opened the door.

The smile on Lance’s face fell immediately. “Oh. What about?” He backed away from the door and sat on the bed, Keith followed suit. He was wringing his hands nervously.

“I know you like me.” He said it so quickly that Lance almost missed it.

“How?” Was all he could ask.

“Believe it or not, I took high-school Spanish, hermoso.” His accent was terrible, but Lance understood. He was blushing all the way to the tips of his ears, but so was Keith.

“Oh…” He said quietly “Look, I understand if this makes you uncomfortable. I’ll get over it…”

“What?” Keith sounded surprised.

“Nothing has to change. I-“

Keith cut him off. “What makes you think that’s what I want?”

Lance didn’t get a chance to answer before Keith started talking again.

“I care about you a lot Lance. I’m not going to pretend I don’t but you’ve helped me so much and I don’t think I could live without you at this point.”

“I want to be your boyfriend.” Lance blurted. “I want you to be happy and I want to be part of what makes you happy.”

Keith smiled at him. “I’d like that.”

Lance felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They sat in comfortable silence until dinner rolled around and if their team-mates noticed that they were sitting closer than usual, they didn’t say anything.

Not much changed after that. They still held hands, they still say close, loosely wrapped around each other. But it was less awkward, less hesitant. They didn’t tell the team about this new development but Lance had a feeling that they already knew.

Not everything was okay, not everything was fixed. Keith still had at least one panic attack a month, he still startled violently at loud noises, but now Lance was there. Caring blue eyes and warm golden skin wrapping him up in soft fabric or squeezing his hand. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a hell of a lot better,

~*~

It was no secret that Lance ate a lot, quick metabolism and rigorous training combined with regular adrenaline kicks kept his body from retaining much if what he ate. So he was gangly and thin and constantly hungry, which started his habit of nightly kitchen runs. The walks to the kitchen were nice, quiet and calm, a much needed escape from the chaos of Paladin life. Sometimes, however, routines need to be broken, because tonight the supposedly sound proof walls did little to muffle the sobs coming from Keith’s room.

Lance knocked softly on the door. “Babe? Can I come in?” There was no answer so he opened the door.

Though it was dark, he could clearly see Keith curled in on himself in the corner of his bed, hand covering his mouth in an attempt to stifle the sad noises. Keith startled when the bed shifted from Lance’s weight, eyes panicked before he realized who it was. Contrary to popular belief, Keith had more emotions than “angry” and “not unhappy.” Seeing him like this broke Lance’s heart.

“Hey, Samurai.” He said softly “How far?”

Keith held out his hands, hanging his head. It was a system they had worked out early into their arrangement, Lance would ask “how far?” and depending on Keith’s response Lance would act accordingly. If Keith was okay with being touched, he would hold out five fingers. If he held out both hands, Lance would hold them, playing with his fingers and tracing patterns into his palms until Keith calmed down enough to talk. If Keith shook his head, Lance would get one of the blankets from the closet and set about making hot cocoa. As were the case this time, Lance grasped his hands softly, thumbs rubbing circles in his palms.

Ten minutes of sweet whispers and comforting words. Ten minutes of playing with Keith’s hands and pressing kisses to his knuckles. Ten minutes before Keith’s breathing evened out, only occasionally interrupted by a hiccup.

“Hey there mullet-head.” Lance said, a tentative lilt of humor in his voice.

Keith smiled, a barely there quirk of his lips.

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked

Keith was quiet for a moment, breathing slowly. “I don’t know h-how to do this.” He said finally.

“Do what?” Lance asked

“How to be a boyfriend. I’ve never d-done this before.” Keith hiccupped.

“Hey.” Lance soothed. “Neither do I.”

He chuckled when Keith’s eyes widened.

“I know. Unbelievable that no one wanted a piece of this.” He joked. “But we’ll figure this out together. One step at a time.”

“Why me?” Keith’s voice was small, like he was afraid of the answer.

“Well it certainly wasn’t your hair-do.” When that failed to make Keith smile, Lance squeezed his hands. “You’re beautiful, inside and out. You’re impulsive and you care so much about everyone else. You care about them more than yourself a lot of the time. You’re brave and talented and stubborn. And even though you sometimes do stupid shit, you’re still you.” He said “How far?”

He was pleasantly surprised when Keith let go of his hand to hold up five fingers. Lance wasted no time pulling the other paladin into his arms and Keith was quick to bury his face in the crook of his neck. He curled his fists into the fabric of Lance’s pajama shirt, like he was afraid he would disappear.

“Thank you, Lance.” He mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it, hermoso.” Lance hummed. Keith’s shirt had ridden up slightly, so he took advantage, rubbing circles into the small of his back. Keith fell asleep soon after, right on top of him. Not wanting to disturb the most sleep he had probably gotten all week, Lance followed suit, growling stomach be damned.

~*~

“Sharp work, Samurai!” Keith could hear the smile in Lance’s voice through the coms, but his own throat was closing up.

“Keith? Hey, Keith?!” Lance’s voice grew panicked by the lack of response, but the sound was muffled by the ringing in Keith’s own ears. He was in agony, it was all he could do to keep from screaming. Red seemed to know, taking over to fly herself back to the castle. The wound on his back was oozing blood, staining the pilot’s seat. Red landed herself gently in the hangar and before Keith could even think about moving, Lance had burst into the cockpit.

“Holy crow, Keith!” Lance gently pulled the helmet from his head, the cold air helping to clear his head.

“Hng…” He groaned, jaw clenched painfully.

“Hey, sweetheart, can you stand?” He asked

Keith shook his head.

“Okay. Sorry, but I’m going to have to carry you.” Lance’s hands were fluttering around him, not making contact.

Keith took a deep breath before nodding shallowly. There was screaming when Lance lifted him over his shoulder and it took him a moment to realize it was his own voice. The open wounds on his back burned like acid and the arms around the back of legs was too much. He must have begged Lance to put him down but he didn’t remember much after that. Just flashes. Panicking when Lance tried to put him into a healing pod until he was taken to a hospital cot, stinging chemicals being poured on his back, more screaming, and Lance. Lance was always there, soft blue eyes and warm hand wiping away his tears and asking ‘how far?’ over and over and over.

The next thing he remembered clearly was Lance holding his hand, brows furrowed as he stared at the ground. Keith squeezed Lance’s hand and the other nearly fell out of his chair in surprise. Keith was face down in the bed, torso wrapped in itchy bandaging and somewhere behind him Altean medical equipment was beeping softly.

“Hey there, Samurai.” Lance whispered softly, kneeling next to the bed and still holding his hand. His skin was buzzing with overstimulation but he didn’t want to let go.

“What happened?” His voice was rough from lack of use and made his throat itch.

“You tell me.” Lance joked but it fell flat. “You weren’t responding on the coms and I found you in Red’s cockpit, covered in blood. You had claw marks all down your back and you didn’t want to get in the healing pod.” Lance sounded like he was about to cry, voice wavering.

“Hey…” Lance looked up at him. “I’m sorry.” That was apparently the limit of his voice because next thing he was coughing uncontrollably and Lance was helping him sit up. He must have fallen back asleep soon after.

Next time he woke up Lance was gone but Shiro was dozing in the chair next to him, snoring like a bulldozer. Keith could only listen to that for so long, so he grabbed and empty water pouch, throwing it at his brother. Shiro startled awake, glancing around the room. Keith’s unsubtle grin made him frown.

“Lance is rubbing off on you.” He stated.

“How long have I been out?” Keith asked, still lethargic.

“Since you last woke up? Or in total?”

“The second one.”

“A week.” Shiro said simply.

“A week?!” Keith wasn’t yelling, but his voice was alarmed.

“It was bad, Keith. You looked like you’d been mauled by a bear.” Shiro wasn’t looking at him. “What happened?”

“They were going to kill the prisoners. They had some sort of beast to do it, some sort of sick entertainment value. I just… I didn’t think about it… I couldn’t…”

Shiro stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, warm and reassuring. “Hey, everyone’s alright, and that’s all that matters. You did a good thing out there, but don’t ever do something like that again. You’re an essential part of this team, of this family. We can’t lose you. Lance was so worried, I had to force him to leave to get some sleep and food goo. He’s been here more than any of us.”

Keith didn’t know what to say to that, so he stayed silent.

“Speaking of Lance.” The lilt of humor in Shiro’s voice made Keith groan. “I’m just messing with you. I’m glad, he’s good for you.”

“Don’t tell him that, it’ll go straight to his head.”

Shiro chuckled. It was a nice sound, low and breathy, rare. Shiro didn’t laugh much anymore. “Get some sleep little bro.” He said. ‘Little bro’ was a joke from before Kerberos and as much as he claimed to hate it then, it was nice to see that some things never changed. Keith fell asleep again a few minutes later.

~*~

The next time he woke up Lance was back, doing god-knows-what on one of the Altean tablets. Altea must have been super medically advanced because whatever painkillers they had given him had dulled everything to a dull throbbing, Keith sat up, gaining Lance’s attention who moved his chair closer.

“How ya doing Keithy?” he asked.

Keith shrugged. “I’m not dead and I’m not in agony so…”

Lance smiled warmly. “For which I am eternally grateful.”

“I’m sorry, again.” He sighed.

Lance wasn’t smiling anymore. “Hey, Shiro told me what you did. I get why you did it, but I swear to god if you pull something like that again.” His brows furrowed “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you. Please never do that again.”

“I’ll try.” And really, that was the best he could do. Who knew what the future would hold, especially since they risked their lives every other day.

“Get a room you two.” Pidge said, making them jump apart. Keith hadn’t even realized how close they’d gotten.

Lance didn’t miss a beat. “We did. This room. You came in of your own volition.”

The whole team was in the doorway, not sure if they should come in. Pidge however, didn’t notice or chose to ignore the awkward hesitance, flopping themselves down on another chair in the room. “Still don’t need to see your lovey-dovey crap.”

Awkwardness dissolved the rest of the team shuffled into the room, including Allura and Coran.

“Glad to see you awake my boy! You gave us all quite the fright!” Coran said with all of his usual enthusiasm.

“Yeah,” Keith mumbled “Sorry.”

The team stuck around for a while, talking and laughing. It was nice a, but soon the noise was forcing Keith to become one with his mattress. Shiro noticed and mentioned something about letting him get some rest, shooing everyone out of the room. Keith sent him a thankful smile. Lance stayed behind, slumped in a plush looking chair,

“And then there were two.” Lance chuckled

Keith hummed, eyes closed.

“Keith, can I ask you something?”

“Depends.” He replied, wary.

“When we brought you in, you didn’t want to get in a healing pod. You were screaming and I was terrified. You don’t need to tell me why, but I want to be able to help you.”

“I didn’t want to be alone.” Keith said simply, opening his eyes and looking aver at Lance.

“What?” Lance looked confused.

“I was so used to being alone, before Voltron, before this.” Keith gestured between them. “Even here in the castle, I was mostly alone. Then you came along and turned everything on its head. The pods are so quiet, there’s no one there making noise or laughing and I didn’t want to be alone again.” His throat was seizing up, but he swallowed it down.

“Oh, Keith…” Lance’s voice was soft.

“I don’t need your pity, Lance. I’ll figure it out.” He huffed.

“Hey, no. Look at me, babe.” There was no room for argument, so Keith did. “ _We’ll_ figure it out. Together. We’re a team now. Not just you and me, all of us. One big fucked up family fighting the purple cat dictatorship.” Lance spoke with a pleading tone, mixed with a note of humor.

“Okay.” Keith agreed, taking Lance’s hand and squeezing.

Lance moved his chair closer. “How far?” He asked, leaning slightly over the cot.

“Ten.”

“Ten?” He questioned, head tilted and impossibly cute. Before he could think better of it, Keith grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.

Keith had never kissed anyone before, but neither had Lance. It wasn’t much, no more than a soft press of lips before he was pulling away. Lance was wearing a dopey smile, blue eyes sparkling. Keith figured he looked much the same, face flushing.

“Get some sleep, babe. I’ll be right here.” Lance said, leaning back but still holding his hand.

~*~

Keith was allowed out of bed the next day and completely healed a week and a half later. Altean healing really was a medical miracle. To both of their surprise, kissing became a regular, frequent thing. Quick good luck kisses before a mission, slow I’m glad you’re alive kisses after a mission and long I missed you kisses. Just as good, if not better, was the way Keith, more often than not, spent his nights curled up next to Lance. On purpose. They weren’t perfect. Keith still had his bad days and Lance sometimes struggled to understand, but they were working on it. Together.


End file.
